The European Research Council has awarded substantial new innovation funding to one hundred eighty two scientists, helping them successfully transform their pioneering laboratory discoveries into viable commercial products and services across the entire European continent.
By Creatives Unite NewsroomThe European Research Council named 182 researchers on 30 June as recipients of its latest Proof of Concept Grants, a €27.3 million funding round designed to help scientists move findings out of the laboratory and into practical use, the council announced.
Each grantee will receive €150,000 under Horizon Europe, the European Union's research and innovation programme. The scheme, a top-up to the council's main grants, is open only to scientists who currently hold, or have previously held, one of its frontier research awards. It is intended to help them explore whether findings from their original projects could be developed into commercial products or services with broader societal benefit.
Of the projects funded, 54 per cent fall within physical sciences and engineering, 37 per cent within life sciences, and 8 per cent within social sciences and humanities.
Among the projects backed are the development of 3D-printed, bio-inspired electronics made from soft materials; a tool intended to help doctors protect speech-related areas of the brain during epilepsy surgery; and work on a ready-made breast cancer vaccine that researchers hope could work across many patients without requiring treatment to be personalised for each one.
The grantees will carry out their work at universities and research centres across 21 EU member states and associated countries. Germany has the largest number of grants, with 31, followed by the Netherlands with 27. Italy and France each secured 18 grants, and Spain 13.
This year's round attracted 554 applications, 15 per cent more than the previous first round, with one in three proposals successful. The council's 2026 work programme includes two rounds of Proof of Concept funding, with a combined budget of €60 million. Applications for the second round close on 17 September 2026, with results expected later this year.
Ekaterina Zaharieva, the European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation, said many innovations begin with "a researcher asking a fundamental question", adding that the 182 projects showed curiosity-driven science and real-world impact could go hand in hand.
Professor Maria Leptin, president of the European Research Council, said the top-up scheme had proved a valuable addition since its introduction, noting that nearly 2,500 such grants have now helped researchers explore the innovation potential of discoveries made through their ERC-funded work.
A full list of the selected researchers and their projects has been published by the council.
